The Definitive Ebay/No Name/Chinese/Cheap turbo kit thread

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Chris28
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I just installed my intercooler kit that I got from ebay, so here's a sort of review. The store was http://stores.ebay.com/miragepower2008 and it was a "JDM's 89-94 240sx ka24de intercooler and piping kit."

Intercooler - standard 31x11.5x3 design. It's a ebay intercooler, bar and plate design, no one seems to have any troubles with the intercoolers themselves.

Piping - Cold side looks awesome. It's really beefy. hot side...well It seems like i can bend it with my hands. I can't, but it's that thin haha. The cold side looks like it will line right up to my throttle body, but the engine isn't in so I can't tell. I had to take out my battery tray and cut a hole, but that's pretty much standard with any fmic kit. Hot side fits right through the hole made for it, so thats awesome. The "bov" flange had some pretty crappy weld on the inside, so I ground that off with my dremel. It didn't come with any 2" couplers, so I'm going to have to buy a 90 degree and a straight one to finish connecting the piping.

Fit - Amazing. I had to cut my bumper support, but some people just take it off. When I was looking at it I knew a lot of fmic kits use one bracket that attaches to the middle of the radiator core support, and since mine didn't have that I was a little worried. After looking at it a little more, I realized that the brackets line up perfectly with where the horns mount. Took those off, held up the intercooler and then did bolt - bracket - horn - core support and it fits awesome. For the bottom, they give you 2 straight brackets. I looked behind the intercooler and saw the two bottom bolts holding in the two sides of the rad core support, so i put the brackets in the vice and bent each side 45 degrees, and it lined up perfectly. I had to trim my bumper, but you can't tell it's been trimmed from the outside, only if you looked at the inside. Overall, installation was really easy. It came with t-bolt clamps, so no need to buy those. All it needs is the 2 2" couplers and clamps.

I am very happy with this kit, and the fit was astounding. I highly suggest it for someone in the market for an fmic and piping. It cost 140 bucks btw.


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spooled240
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ching-chong racing ftw!

silvia240sx007
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Hey what's up guys? I was thinking about boosting my 240sx ka24de motor, Right now i am just looking to get about 200 whp for my daily driver.I was reading the post about The Definitive Ebay/No Name/Chinese/Cheap turbo kits, Question has anyone used or herd of the Nissan 240sx ka24de Garrett Turbo Kit Starter Kit on ebay?

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GTR PrYdE
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silvia240sx007 wrote:Hey what's up guys? I was thinking about boosting my 240sx ka24de motor, Right now i am just looking to get about 200 whp for my daily driver.I was reading the post about The Definitive Ebay/No Name/Chinese/Cheap turbo kits, Question has anyone used or herd of the Nissan 240sx ka24de Garrett Turbo Kit Starter Kit on ebay?
Everything's name brand and looks decent, but you'd still need alot of fab work (downpipe,wastegate dump,intercooler piping). The manifold is a revhard type, which can put the turbo very close to the brake master...

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spooled240
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based on my experiences, NEVER put the turbo too close to the brake master cylinder. It's fine for DD if you do the necessary heat wrap, etc. But tracking or drifting your car where the turbo and outlet pipe is red hot is gonna be a different story.

silvia240sx007
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So i guess the kit will be ok with also some other parts like bov, injectors 370cc, intercooler & piping, downpipe, walbro fuel pump,wideband, boost, oil pressure gauges, ecu.Any recommendation for ecu?

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GTR PrYdE
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Your very best bet is to find a good local tuner that can rom tune your car...

Other options if you simply can't find any are Enthalpy(which has fell off the face of the planet when it comes to customer service), and JWT, or MAYBE EfiSpecialist (but I've never heard of anyone on here using them.

silvia240sx007
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Yeah i think im going with EfiSpecialist or Nistune for an ecu

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Chris28
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I was thinking about running an EFI Specialist ecu, but I'm probably going to go with a calumsult setup. It's basically Nistune, but you don't need a license for it, you can use free software. Look into it. The website is kinda messed up, as in it's really messed up, but there was an email address so I emailed him and I also found his cell number so if he doesn't get back to me I'll call that.

If you don't want to tune yourself EFI seems legit. I talked to the guy for a little while, and he seems cool. Re-tunes are 50 bucks for when the boost bug bites and you end up with bigger injectors and a z32 maf...

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Chris28
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I decided to go with the EFI Specialist tune, after pricing it was a little bit cheaper, and since I'm a noob I didn't feel comfortable with managing my own tune files. (I did however download a few tunes and mess with them in Rom editor to see whats up, I highly suggest you do the same if you want to learn about what a tune is all about). I'll be making a thread with my review of the EFI tune, and i'll have a wideband so it will be a legit review lol.

/end threadjack, back to ebay parts.

silvia240sx007
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Yeah one of my friends use EFI Specialist, the car runs very well no problem.

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Crazyirish
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Has anyone seen the "real jdm's ball bearing turbos" on ebay? I just saw a GT3076R for $499. Gotta be another chinese knock-off right?

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spooled240
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neverlift wrote:master has overheated once during drifting, I think my sheild is working that out, know soon.
what happened when your master overheated?

I need to put a shield on mine but there is absolutely zero space between the bmc and the turbo for a heat shield. I think i'm gonna make my own MM using AZhitman's diy and lower/clock my engine so i'll have more space and stiffer mounts..way to kill two birds with one stone
Crazyirish wrote:Has anyone seen the "real jdm's ball bearing turbos" on ebay? I just saw a GT3076R for $499. Gotta be another chinese knock-off right?
i'm pretty sure that's chinese

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240sk
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Ok so I know this is a littlle off topic, but I have everything I need besides the intercooler and piping. I have tried to buy I few used greddy kit but that didn't work out. Anyways i have searched and found out that the godspeed intercooler kits are good, and that people have heard nothing but good about them. But also I have heard some good about the ebay kits to. Ok so I am going to be running 10 pounds of boost at first, then after a couple of months I am going to build my motor and run 17 pounds or higher. So I can't really find my answer, I have heard that the ebay piping is cheap and can bend when tightened to tight. So i am thinking about the godspeed kit, but I can't really find any info about the piping, so does anyone personally have the godspeed kit? knowing how good they are.
Modified by 240sk at 9:38 AM 12/18/2008

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spooled240
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I don't have a godspeed but I have an ebay intercooler and piping and i thought they were very well built. Oh and they didn't break when tightening the clamps down..idk who thought of that one. You should be fine with the intercooler's and piping off ebay.

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240sk
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ok thanks man, i prob will just go with the godspeed. Thanks.

DorianrZX
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z.hunter1 wrote:I am also curious about this kit from ETD Motors, so if anyone has stories it would be much appreciated. Seems like pretty cheap fun and whats the worst that can happen... a motor can always be rebuilt. lol
Anyone had any first hand expierience with this kit? It seems rather decent for an Ebay Turbo Kit. Iv'e heard CX racing is the best of the low-end kits?


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YoungS13Build
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alright yes i HAVE searched these ebay turbos on here 5 to many times. i understand DONT GO CHEAP. i really dont plan on it at all. but i would like someone to check this ebay cx turbo kit out. it seems they , by what they wrote, that they noticed the clearance issue with the master cyl. let me know what ya think...http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ories

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IrenicShogun
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Maximum boost pressure is reached very early in the powerband at about 3400 rpm. This is mostly due to the large displacement of the 2.4-liter engine,as appose to the SR20, that's a 2.0, is there anything I can do about this?

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blakexcore
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anybody have experience with "ebay" boost gauges?

http://store.max-redline.com/s...etail

like this one?

gotboost147
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question, wouldnt a casted top mount mani that positions the turbo away from the master brake cyclinder be a good choice?

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spooled240
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well that would mean more clearance between the turbo and the brake master cylinder so of course it would be a good choice.

If you're looking at the treadstone cast top mount manifold then let me tell you that there is no clearance between the turbo and the brake master cylinder. Mine was hitting one of the brake lines on my s14. I shaved that brake line off and tee'd it into my other brake line and it's been working perfect.

I just installed nismo motor mounts which raise the engine about 5-10mm and I noticed more clearance between my turbo and my BMC.

I should really take some pics and do a little write up.

jokesterR6
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480sx wrote:Alright guys, i know the regular ka-t people have seen this question countless of times and i thought it would be a good idea to get a real thread on these kits going that would be sticky worthy. A thread that noobs who ask this question can be linked to, and maybe we will see less of the Q.

For those of you who dont know, these kits are made in China and look pretty much the same across the board. Heres a link to one vendor that sells the kit so you guys have an example. ---> http://www.autozconcept.com/pr...=5431

If anyone has some better pics of the kit please feel free to post them up so people will know what were talking about.

To start things off, i want to say that some people can use these kits and have them last a year or two with no major issues. However, the majority of people who buy the kits have problems within 6 months. The two biggest problems with the kit that i have seen from first hand experience and second hand is that either the manifold will crack, or the turbo seals will blow. In other occasions, the wastegate flange just completely blows off the manifold, as has happened to a few ka-ters. The stainless on the manifolds is thin, and of poor quality resulting in cracks around the welds or collector. I have also heard that the turbos are poorly balanced, and if you push them into high boost the compressor wheel will explode sending metal into your engine. I have also heard of the wastegate diaphragm ripping, causing an over boost situation and blowing a motor. The BOV's typically need to be taken apart and the casting marks sanded off of them so they dont leak. Those are the main problems i can think of off the top of my head about these kits.

The main problem here is that the Chinese kits lack any real quality control. They are mass produced as quickly and cheaply as possible.

That being said, we have guys who run the kits and they work fine. On a sidenote, you MUST run a .63 size oil restrictor with these kits or you will blow your turbos aft oil seal. This will cause your car to be undrivable, smoke so thick that you cant see out your back window. You can pick one up from Mc-Master Carr, the part number is 2712T488 (.63 orfice).

I 100 percent regret buying one of these kits for 800 bucks a year and a half ago. Now that i have a ka-t, the only thing i still use on my car from the kit was the intercooler, half of my IC piping(which was thin as crap and hard to weld), and a really nice Blitz boost gage/turbo timer(what a way to spend 800..). I was going to use the manifold, but after seeing how crappy it was, and hearing all the horror stories about it, decided not to put it on my car and went with something else. I used the turbo without a restrictor and it lasted all of three wide open throttle runs.

So thats that, please anyone with first hand or good second hand knowledge of the kit chime in to make this a better thread.
I cant speak to the quality of the chinese turbo stuff except that i did buy a chinese intercooler that is awesome and havent had any trouble, damn thing even fit right

carheadman
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Nick@SickAudio wrote:Anybody try the JDM sport KA-T kit? Seems to be just another China kit. But for $849 I think it should be the best hp per $1 you can get? These guys are off the zilvia site. I am pondering ordering this kit.

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=189914
That's the kit I have and I have already put 1500 miles on my car running it untuned on an 8:1 fmu

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Chris28
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I have a JDM Sport t28, it is blowing smoke after less than a month of driving. I beat on it for 1 day of drifting, that was the first time I actually drove it hard. My return line was a little messed up, but never uphill. Oil could have backed up and blown out the seals, but I don't think so. I'm in the market for a legit turbo now.

My JDM Sport FMIC kit however is doing fine. I had to replace a coupler and a few t-bolt clamps, but other than that it fits perfectly.

EDIT: I did use a .63 restrictor on my feed line.

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spooled240
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^is it ball bearing? I know BB turbo's use a smaller orifice that restrict oil pressure even more than the .063 orifice.

I think the puff of blue smoke that i get after having the car idle for 2 minutes is the turbo. I just rebuilt my engine and head with all new seals and gaskets and i have the same problem i had before: let the car idle for a minute or two, free-rev it a little and a puff of blue smoke comes out the tail pipe. I used to think it was valve seals but after having them replaced with new OEM ones I doubt that it is the valve seals. I've researched this problem and other people with the same problem found out is was their leaky turbo seals. It's not bad as my oil level stays pretty consistent and it's definitely drivable but it is just kinda annoying.

I would like to get a nice garrett 50 trim t3/t04E with a .50 comp/.63exhaust....or maybe just rebuild my knockoff turbo with some legit garrett parts

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Chris28
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Nope, journal bearing.

That's what mine is doing. It doesn't smoke at idle, but when I let off after cruising or anything it smokes. After boosting it smokes really bad when I let off, but it always stops after about 5 seconds of idling again.

My oil return bung and oil pan seal are leaking, so I have to check my level pretty consistently. Doesn't help that t he pan is warped lol. A brand new oem pan got to my house today though so I'm having the return re-worked as well as now the warped issue is obviously not a problem anymore lol.

I'm going bottom mount t3 with a legit Garrett Super Sixty. Should be good, I'll make a write up and all. The SSAC manifold should be able to hold the weight, it's been done before.

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jonas92
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has anyone seen the cx racing kit for a kae some of my freids have put it on civics an stuff but i was wandering if anyone has personal experience with it

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WDRacing
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We just had a report that the CXRacing top mount manifold is still the same POS top mount that comes with ALL Chinese knock off kits. It cracks just like the others.

WD

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zerepdivad
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FWIW ^ my top mount ebay manifold held up through my first motor which went about 5xxx miles and it over heated and the head gasket blew. And i'm on about 1000 miles now on my new motor. But unlike most others i'm running a flex pipe in my exhaust to take some stress off of the manifold. My china charger has the same amount of miles as my manifold and is also still holding up just fine thus far.


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